Chapter 6: 6 – Last Message

The atmosphere in the house was heavy. Most of the residents of the house had just lost two family members, and another one was close to dying. The only one who was not so sad was Jonathan, who was thinking about other things.

'Both of them were slow but strong. One shot to the head was enough to kill them all for good... I'm still worried about my family, but there's nothing I can do now but wait for them to get in touch with me.'

Jonathan finally stopped thinking about his relatives and thought about the current situation, 'We still have one infected here... maybe there's still time for him.'

Then, Jonathan broke the silence inside the house, '' Maybe there is a way to save him.''

When Jonathan said this, the infected man's wife became hopeful, '' Really!? What do we need to do?''

Jonathan did not want to frighten Eve and Nathaneal, so he called the adults, except for the infected man, to talk. 

As soon as Nathan, Samantha, and Jane, the wife of Nathan's brother, arrived in the other room, Jonathan began to speak, "I think we can cut off his arm to prevent infection.''

What Jonathan said was ridiculous, but so was the current situation. After a few seconds of shock, the trio asked, '' Are you sure you can help?''

Jonathan sighed, ''I'm not sure of anything! Zombies are appearing, and what I knew is meaningless. But usually, in zombie stories, if you cut off the infected limb, the person survives. The aggravating thing is that he has already been bitten more than an hour ago and I don't think we have the necessary equipment to do the amputation properly...''

Noticing that the trio was thinking about it, Jonathan decided to go talk to the infected man, '' I'll leave you to think about it.''

After saying this, Jonathan left the place and left the trio arguing. He walked towards the infected man and wasted no time, '' I might have a way to save you, but it will hurt .... a lot. And you might die in the process.''

Franklin, Nathan's brother, looked at Jonathan hopefully, '' Tell me everything.''

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After Jonathan said everything, that he had to amputate his arm and that even then he might not survive because of the time of the bite, Franklin didn't think much, '' Let's do it!''

Jonathan nodded and went to talk to the trio, who were still discussing what to do, '' He said he wants to amputate.''

The trio looked at Jonathan with surprise, '' Why didn't you talk to him before you talked to us.''

Jonathan sighed, '' You guys needed a distraction, to act and do something. Stillness is bad, you guys needed a push... the situation we are in is horrible, you guys need to get your shit together, for the sake of all of us.''

The trio didn't like being tricked by Jonathan at all, but he didn't care much, '' Take him to a room away from Eve and Nathanael. Prepare some alcohol, some sheets, and some hot water. I'll get some things from my house that might help.''

Jonathan held out his hand to Nathan, who asked, "What is it?''

''Give me the gun. I'm going outside, and there may be zombies around.''

Nathan handed the gun to Jonathan, "Good luck.''

Jonathan nodded and left the house. When he noticed that there was no one around and that no one inside the house was looking at him, Jonathan hid and opened the SHOP Interface.

Jonathan went down the interface to the MEDICINE section. He clicked on this section and saw the options, ' I don't know what to buy, but I'll take the basics.'

He bought gloves, a surgical saw, antibiotics, morphine, and a few other things. Everything cost less than 50k. With all the products in hand, Jonathan debated whether to wait or go back now, 'If I take any longer, he really doesn't stand a chance!'

Having decided to try to save Franklin, to get as much information as possible about amputation, and get experience in situations like this, Jonathan returned to Nathan's house. He knocked on the door, and it didn't take long for Eve to open it, ''Come in!''

Jonathan rushed inside and ran into the room where Franklin was. Eve and Nathanael thought it strange that Jonathan was acting this way, but both decided to ignore the situation.

After searching for the farthest room, Jonathan opened the door. The quartet was already prepared with everything. Jonathan then asked, "Who wants to stay and help me?''

The quartet didn't expect that Jonathan was the one who was going to cut off Frankillin's arm, '' What? If any of you want to do this, I will gladly let you!''

Nathan, Samantha, and Jane remained quiet. Jonathan sighed, 'They're not ready for life in the Apocalypse yet! Hell, even I'm not ready for it, but I have to adapt as soon as possible...''

Seeing that the people inside the room were still unsure who to stay with him to do the operation, Jonathan decided immediately, '' Nathan and Jane, please go out. Let me and Samantha do this.''

Jane wanted to stay, but Jonathan wouldn't let her, "Do you want to see your husband in pain?'' Then Jonathan continued, this time to Nathan, ''And he's your brother! I don't know if you could handle the scene.''

Nathan and Jane wanted to continue the discussion, but Samantha added, "It's like Jonathan said, you can do more harm than good! And remember, the more time goes by, the more difficult Frankillin's chances become!''

Finally, Nathan and Jane left. Jonathan wasted no time and gave Frankillin some morphine, '' This is morphine. It should make you dizzy for a while and won't let you feel pain... probably.''

Then Jonathan asked Samantha to pour alcohol on the wound. Then he noticed the spot, '' He's lucky! It was a little above his hand, the infection might not have spread that far, and he'll only lose his fist!''

After checking Franklin one more time, Jonathan picked up the saw. Then, he took a lighter out of his pocket and ran it over the blade, ''I'm sterilizing it. Maybe it cauterizes the wound better that way!''

Finishing the process, Jonathan said to Samantha, "Hold him! It's just a precaution because I think he's either going to pass out or not feel it at all!''

Samantha did as Jonathan asked. Then, Jonathan started to cut Franklin's limb, 'This is more difficult than I thought!'

After Jonathan put more force into it, Frankilin reacted. He let out a scream and then collapsed. Jonathan wasted no time and applied all the force he had. The location where the bite was located, was completely cut off.

Jonathan took the alcohol and threw it on the wound. Franklin twitched but didn't wake up. Still using the lighter, Jonathan ran the blade through again. This time, he used it to burn the wound.

After this process, Jonathan asked Samantha to bandage the wound. Both of them were wearing gloves, so there was no problem.

Jonathan sighed, "It's over! Now we have to see if it's really going to work.'' He took out his notebook and started to write, 'The individual had been bitten about two hours ago. We did an amputation with the best we had at hand, and now we're waiting for the result.'

Putting the notebook in his inventory, Jonathan went to call Jane and Nathan. Opening the door, he noticed that the two of them were waiting, '' I managed to cut the location where the bite was, but now we have to see if it really worked... Franklin will be out of combat for a while because of the morphine, but you can stay by his side.''

Jane ran into the room, and Nathan followed. Jonathan stopped Nathan and gave him his gun back, "Stay alert.''

Nathan looked at the gun and nodded. Jonathan saw Nathan and Jane entering the room, while Samantha left. She also had blood on her clothes.

''Are there any other bathrooms in the house?'' The one downstairs was where Nathan's parents were. No one took the bodies out yet.

Samantha also remembered this, and said, "We have one more... Come, follow me!''

Jonathan followed Samantha into her room. She opened the door and led him into the bathroom, "This is the only one with a shower... we can go in together or wait.''

Jonathan was surprised by the offer, but he refused, "I'll wait until you're finished. I'll be outside the room and when you're done, call me.''

Samantha nodded and went into the bathroom, while Jonathan stayed outside the room. He didn't even notice that there was blood on the floor and on the walls.

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Jonathan was in a daze, ' In the span of a few hours, I killed two 'people' and performed an amputation... this is fucking ridiculous.'

If Jonathan hadn't lived his other life, he highly doubted he would be so... calm in this situation.

' Even after all this time, no news from my parents...' Jonathan wanted to check his phone but his gloves were covered in blood. He and Samantha forgot to take them out.

Jonathan stayed seated for a long time, thinking about the situation around the world. Minutes later, Samantha got out of the bathroom, '' We don't know for how much longer we will have hot water, so use it to your heart's content right now.''

Jonathan nodded and entered the bathroom. He took all his bloodied clothes and gloves, and put them in his inventory, ' I'll burn them later.'

Then, he proceeds to look at the mirror, ' No bite or scratches... I risked myself far too much today, but it was necessary.'

Jonathan continued to stare at his reflection, ' I have the SHOP, I can easily survive. But what about the others? Nathan almost let me die because he didn't shoot the zombies... can I trust other people? Should I?'

Filled with doubt about what the future holds, Jonathan entered the hot shower. He bought a premium shampoo at the SHOP for about 500 dollars and used it all in one go. ' I have to clean myself.'

A few minutes later, Jonathan got out of the bathroom with a new set of clothes. The first thing he did was check his phone. ' No new message yet...'

Putting his phone aside, Jonathan got out of Samantha's room and went downstairs. Arriving there, he found Samantha, Eve, and Nathanael together. No sign of Nathan or Jane.

Jonathan sat down beside Eve, who immediately started asking, '' What happened to Uncle Frank!? I and Nathanael heard his screams, but mom won't tell me anything!''

Jonathan looked at Samantha, who looked guilty, '' I don't know if they're ready yet... they just witnessed their grandparents die.''

'' They will never be ready for what's happening. No one will. But we have to adapt. They have to know.''

Samantha already knew Jonathan was right, so she could only sigh, '' I know... I know.''

She told both of her children about the situation, '' You saw what happened to your grandpa, right?''

Eve nodded, '' He was bit and turned into ... a zombie.''

Samantha never thought she would nod to this, but here we are, '' Yes... and Uncle Frank was also bitten.''

Eve and Nathanael opened their eyes to the maximum, '' Why didn't you tell us sooner!? We could've said our goodbye.''

The sibling knew that a bite was a death sentence, thanks to the TV.

Samantha shook her head, '' We also thought it was the end, but Jonathan wanted to try something and see if it could save your uncle.''

'' What was it?''

Samantha hesitated for a second, but responded nonetheless, '' We cut out the area around the bite... that's why you heard his scream. We also don't know if it will work, so the best we could do now is hope and wait for the results.''

Eve and Nathanael stayed quiet after that. Jonathan wanted to comfort them, but he thought it was not his place.

Sure enough, Samantha came to the rescue, '' We have to have hope and be strong. The world is getting uglier by the second, so we have to adapt... can you promise both of you will try your best?''

Eve and Nathanael nodded. Samantha hugged them both, '' I love you!''

After watching the scene, Jonathan then left the living room, going towards Franklin's location. He arrived soon after and knocked on the door.

'' Enter.''

Jonathan entered and saw that Nathan was awake while Jane was sleeping beside Franklin. '' Anything happened?''

Nathan shook his head, '' No, he's out... This is the worst day of my life, my parents died and now my brother might die too. Fuck me!''

Jonathan went beside Nathan, '' Go take a shower and relax a little. I'll watch over him.''

Nathan looked at Jonathan with gratitude in his eyes. Then it turned into guilt, '' I'm sorry I didn't shoot earlier... you have to understand-''

''Don't worry about it, they're once your parents, I can understand the hesitation... but don't let it happen again, okay?''

Nathan nodded and looked at Jane, '' What about her?''

'' When she wakes up, ill also send her to take a bath.''

Nathan said nothing more and left the room. Now, only Jonathan, Jane, and a mutilated Franklin were in the room. 

Jonathan didn't want to waste a second, so he took out his notebook and a pen. Then he went to check Franklin and started to write, ' Fever is still high... he is still breathing...his pupils are normal...'

After Jonathan wrote a lot of information, he finally put his notebook into his inventory, ' Maybe he can really survive..!?'

Genuinely surprised by this, Jonathan decided to rest a little, ' I'm not crazy enough to sleep beside a zombie, even if it was a tied one. I'll just stay put for a moment.'

After he sat down, Jonathan was hit with sleepiness, but he stayed strong and started to use his phone. Just then, his WhatsApp got a new message from his parents.

Jonathan clicked immediately. It was a voice message. With trembling fingers, Jonathan started playing the message, ' Son... hello. If you're receiving this message, it means we finally got the signal to send it! We are safe, at your aunt's home. We got out of the wrong airport because the others were already overrun by zombies.'

' It worked great since it was close to your relatives, the problem is, the cellphone signal here is horrible. We got the majority of our family to safety, but... we are very far away from your location. We don't know if can reach your location soon. I'm sorry, but you'll have to handle things on your own for now.'

' To be honest, I know you can survive this. You always had a different aura, I can't explain, but I do trust you enough to know you can do this. This might be the last time we communicate with each other, so you have to know that I and your mom always loved and will always love you.'

' We will continue to use this cellphone for as long as it works... maybe the government can solve this, and we will be reunited in no time...

' Goodbye, my baby!'

The message ended there. To say this shocked Jonathan was an understatement. It took a few minutes for him to calm down, ' Take it easy, they're alive, but far away... They still have a chance to survive. I'll safeguard this phone just in case.'

Jonathan could easily buy a new phone in the SHOP, but he decided against it.

Then, Jonathan went back to think about his parents, ' Please, stay safe!'

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